NBA Reporter Hospitalized After Phone Charger Explodes

What should’ve been a normal weekend morning turned into a terrifying emergency for NBA reporter and analyst Ashley Nevel.

Nevel said a portable phone charger suddenly exploded inside her Los Angeles apartment last weekend — just moments after she plugged her phone in.

“I put my phone down for literally five seconds,” she said, according to CBS News. “And the charger exploded.”

Nevel said the blast sparked an instant fire on her bed and left her with chemical burns on her arm. As the flames spread and her phone began overheating, she tried to smother the fire with a blanket, but it didn’t work.

Then she remembered a housewarming gift from her dad: a fire blanket.

Nevel ran to her kitchen, grabbed it, and tossed it onto the flames.

“It stopped the fire immediately,” she said.

After the fire was contained, Nevel said she rushed to her balcony and screamed for help, asking neighbors to call 911.

She also revealed she’s now dealing with limited mobility in one of her thumbs, making it hard to grip everyday objects. Even so, she says she feels fortunate the situation didn’t get worse.

“I could have died,” she said. “I just pray this doesn’t happen to anyone else.”

Nevel is now using her experience as a warning for others, pointing out how common portable chargers are — and how rarely people think about what can go wrong. Many power banks use lithium-ion batteries, which can overheat or fail if they’re damaged, defective, or used with the wrong cables or adapters.

Her message is simple: don’t assume your charger is harmless just because it’s normal to use it every day.